Variation in final casting dimensions is a major challenge in the investment casting industry. Additional correction operations such as die tool reworking as well as coining operations affect foundry productivity significantly. In this paper influence of basic parameters such as wax material, mould material, number of ceramic coats and feed location on the dimensional accuracy of stainless-steel casting has been investigated. Two levels of each factor were chosen for experimental study. Taguchi approach has been used to design the experiment and to identify the optimal condition of each parameter for reduced dimensional deviation. Analysis of variance has been carried out to determine the contribution of each process parameter. The result reports that selected parameters have significant effect on the dimensional variability of investment casting. Mould material is the dominant parameter with the largest contribution followed by number of ceramic coats and wax material whereas feed location is having negligible contribution.
The microstructure of Al-Si alloy has coarse silicon and this structure is known dangerous for mechanical properties due to its crack effect. Sr addition is preferred to modify the coarse silica during solidification. Additionally, bifilms (oxide structure) are known as a more dangerous defect which is frequently seen in light alloys. It is aimed at that negative effect of bifilms on the properties of the alloys tried to be removed by the degassing process and to regulate the microstructure of the alloy. In this study, the effect of degassing and Sr modification on the mechanical properties of AlSi12Fe alloy was investigated, extensively. Four different parameters (as-received, as-received + degassing, Sr addition, Sr addition + degassing) were studied under the same conditions environmentally. The microstructural analyses and mechanical tests were done on cast parts. All data obtained from the experimental study were analyzed statistically by using statistical analysis software. It was concluded from the results that Sr addition is very dangerous for AlSi12Fe alloy. It can be suggested that to reach high mechanical properties and low casting defects, the degassing process must be applied to all castings whereas Sr addition should not be preferred.
Recently, some major changes have occurred in the structure of the European foundry industry, such as a rapid development in the production of castings from compacted graphite iron and light alloys at the expense of limiting the production of steel castings. This created a significant gap in the production of heavy steel castings (exceeding the weight of 30 Mg) for the metallurgical, cement and energy industries. The problem is proper moulding technology for such heavy castings, whose solidification and cooling time may take even several days, exposing the moulding material to a long-term thermal and mechanical load. Owing to their technological properties, sands with organic binders (synthetic resins) are the compositions used most often in industrial practice. Their main advantages include high strength, good collapsibility and knocking out properties, as well as easy mechanical reclamation. The main disadvantage of these sands is their harmful effect on the environment, manifesting itself at various stages of the casting process, especially during mould pouring. This is why new solutions are sought for sands based on organic binders to ensure their high technological properties but at the same time less harmfulness for the environment. This paper discusses the possibility of reducing the harmful effect of sands with furfuryl binders owing to the use of resins with reduced content of free furfuryl alcohol and hardeners with reduced sulphur content. The use of alkyd binder as an alternative to furfuryl binder has also been proposed and possible application of phenol-formaldehyde resins was considered.
The paper deals with the effect of heating of various prepared batch materials into semisolid state with subsequent solidification of the cast under pressure. The investigated material was a subeutectic aluminium alloy AlSi7Mg0.3. The heating temperature to the semisolid was chosen at 50% liquid phase. The used material was prepared in a variety of ways: heat treatment, inoculation and by squeeze casting. Also the influence of the initial state of material on inheritance of mechanical properties and microstructure was observed. The pressure was 100 MPa. Effect on the resulting casting structure, alpha phase distribution and eutectic silicon was observed. By using semisolid squeeze casting process the mechanical properties and microstructures of the casts has changed. The final microstructure of the casts is very similar to the microstructure that can be reached by technology of thixocasting. The mechanical properties by using semisolid squeeze casting has been increased except the heat treated material.
The fluidity is the term to determine the materials ability to fill the mold cavity properly. Fluidity is complex property with many variables. Up to this date, there is no methodology for defining the fluidity in a semisolid material state. Submitted paper deals with the proposal of a new method designed for aluminium alloy fluidity evaluation in semi-solid state trough the design of the layered construction die. Die will be primary used for fluidity tests of semi-solid squeeze casted aluminium alloy and to observe the pressing force flow by mentioned casting technology. The modularity consists of possibility to change each die segment. In the experiment the die design was evaluated by simulation in ProCAST 11.5 and by production of experimental castings. The die was made by laser cutting technology from construction steel S355JR. Experimental material was aluminium alloy AlSi7Mg0.3. The temperature of the semisolid state was chosen to achieve 35% of solid phase. The result of next study should be a selected parameters observation and their effect on the fluidity of aluminium alloy in semi-solid state. This will be very important step to determine the optimal conditions to achieve a castings with certain wall thickness produced by the method of semi-solid squeeze casting.